Press Releases

Why is the Government Ramming Through the Property Management Bill

I have released a press statement to question the Government efforts in ramming the Valuers, Appraisers and Estate Agents (Amendment) Bill 2017 through Parliament. Click here for the full text.

Government Must Fully Disclose All its Calculations Related to the Employment Insurance System Bill 2017

I released a press statement urging the government to disclose its big data projections and all related actuarial calculations relating to the Employment Insurance System Bill 2017. Click here for the full text in both English and Bahasa Malaysia.

Pakatan Harapan Needs to Focus on the Politics of Policies

I have released a press statement emphasising the importance for Pakatan Harapan to focus on national policies. Click here for the full text in both English and Bahasa Malaysia.

IPIC-1MDB Settlement to be Borne by Malaysian Taxpayers

I have released a press statement with regards to the IPIC-1MDB settlement, which will adversely affect Malaysia. Click here for the full text.

Finance Minister’s Reply on Casey Tang and Jasmine Loo

Today in Parliament, Wong Chen made a press statement on the Finance Minister’s answer on Casey Tan and Jasmine Loo—aka 1MDB Officers 1 and 3 respectively. Click here for the full text in English and in Malay.

No Action Taken by MACC on the Rolls Royce-AirAsia Bribery Scandal

The Integrity Minister Paul Low has just sent me a reply to one of my questions in Parliament which enquired about whether the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission will be taking any action against AirAsia following the UK’s Serious Fraud Office finding that Rolls Royce guilty for paying bribes involving an AirAsia executive. Click here for the transcript.

1BRIS Deal is Way Too Generous to YTL, MoE Must Answer and MyCC Must Investigate

I did a press statement at 11 am today on the 1Bestarinet poject based on the PAC report that was put on our table today. Click here for the transcript.

Finance Minister’s Reply about the National Blue Ocean Strategy

The Member of Parliament for Kelana Jaya’s has posed a question on the National Blue Ocean Strategy during the third parliamentary session of 2016; the Finance Minister has responded evasively. I have issued a press statement in response. Read the transcript here.

Did Marstan Loan Earn Tanjong RM 198 million? Was This Legal?

In response to the Finance Minister’s answer on 1MDB and Marstan Investment NV loan, I have issued a press statement questioning the Marstan Loan. Read the transcript here.

Putrajaya Must not Re-assess the PwC Report

In response to Putrajaya’s instructions to re-assess the PwC Report and its findings, I issued a press statement criticising these actions. Read the transcript here.

Anifah, Please Explain Why are We Pivoting to US?

On the 14th of January 2016, I did a press statement at PKR HQ urging Anifah Aman, the Foreign Minister, to give a geo-political reason on why we are pivoting to US via the TPPA. Read more here.

Anifah Aman Must Give Geo-Political Reasons for the TPPA

YB Gooi Hsiao Leung, Member of Parliament for Alor Setar and the chairman of PKR’s International Bureau and I are teaming up to assess the TPPA from a geopolitical perspective.

To that end, we have conducted our first press statement together in the PKR headquarters at 11 am on the 11th of January 2016. YB Gooi used to work for the United Nations in Timor-Leste and has vast experience on diplomacy and foreign policy matters. The TPPA is not about economics but driven by geopolitical considerations. Read more here.

TPPA Myth Busting, Winners and Losers

On the 6th of January 2016, I did yet another press statement about the two main myths surrounding the TPPA and explained why they are untrue. I also explained the winning and losing industries due to the TPPA and what it really means to our country’s economy. Read more here.

Insignificant Macroeconomic Gains from TPPA

On the 6th of January 2016, I did a press statement about the PwC report on the TPPA and its findings which show that signing TPPA does not give Malaysia significant macroeconomic benefits. I explained that according to the PwC report, macroeconomic gains from the agreement are minimal at best, which means that the TPPA is pursued not on economic factors, but on political and geo-political influences. Read more here.

Response to 1MDB-DuSable Joint Statement, and do tell us about Yurus Private Equity Fund

On the 11th of November 2015, 1MDB and DuSable released a joint statement in response to my query, stating that their relationship is not a “project-level JVA”but were merely “discussions for a partnership”. I find this very amusing and released a counter-response and probed further into the Yurus PE Fund issue. You can read my statement, the media’s response and Sarawak Report’s coverage here.

No Joint-Venture with DuSable Capital, says Najib

On 23rd April 2014, DuSable updated a statement to the US Department of Justice to clarify that 1MDB will not be an investor in Dusable but DuSable has engaged in a partnership with 1MDB to develop, finance and construct a 50MW solar project in Malaysia. This unfolding bro-mance between golfing buddies Obama and Najib is somewhat of a mystery. Yesterday, I received an official Parliamentary reply from the Minister of Finance, YAB Najib Razak that 1MDB has not signed any joint venture agreement with DuSable in Kedah. Read more here and here.

EPF Bill Creates Two Different Dividend Levels

The issue at hand is the EPF bill will create a separate portfolio for Syariah compliant investments. If this law is passed, EPF contributors can choose to have Syariah compliant dividends or non Shariah dividends. This will lead to two different dividend levels for EPF contributors. You can read the full press statement here.

1MDB Questions Rejected by Speaker

YB Gooi Hsiao Leung, YB Raja Bahrin and myself all received letters from Parliament rejecting our 1MDB related questions. We immediately convened a press conference on this issue. You can read more here.

PM2.5 is a far superior measure than PM10

Thanks to the Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Datuk Hamim’s revelations, we now know for a fact that there are currently twelve PM2.5 facilities in Malaysia. Three years ago, in 2012, the government had five PM2.5 facilities. What it means is that from 2012 to 2015, the government has only managed to install seven additional PM2.5 facilities. This rate of implementation does not demonstrate any form of urgency on the part of the government to improve its reporting on the yearly haze problem. You can read the full statement here.

Zeti and the Weakening Ringgit

On 6 August 2015, I did a joint press conference with Dr Fahmi Ngah on Tan Sri Zeti, the weakening Ringgit and the erosion of investor confidence as a result of the 1MDB scandal. In essence, we feel that it will be extremely unwise to arrest Governor Zeti without full transparency and due process at this most delicate time for the Ringgit. The international financial community including powerful rating agencies look upon Governor Zeti as a positive factor in the economy. You can read the full statement here. You can read media coverage of this press conference here and here and the video here.

Forex Intervention Bad for Ringgit in the Long Run

Malaysia’s central bank cannot impose prolonged currency intervention to bolster the ringgit’s flagging performance, as it could eventually erode the country’s foreign reserves. See media coverage of the press release here.

MP & ADUN Demand Legal Opinion on PJ Sports City JV

PKNS and Melati Ehsan Bhd entered into a joint venture agreement to develop Sports City in Kelana Jaya. This project is extremely controversial as the site for the project has been gazetted as recreational land by the local authorities, MBPJ. After a meeting with representatives from PKNS, I released a Press Statement demanding for a Legal Opinion on the Joint Venture between PKNS and Melati Ehsan on the proposed project. You can read the full statement here.

The Prevention of Terrorism Act 2015

The government bulldozed a host of draconian laws through the Dewan Rakyat at the First Session of Parliament for 2015. Along with Raja Bahrain, MP for Kuala Terengganu, I held a series of press conferences in Parliament to raise awareness of the huge curtailment of rights resulting from the proposed bills. You can read all the news coverage here (TMI), here (Mkini), and here (MalayMail).

PKR MPs condemn the use of excessive force by Police at anti-GST rally

PKR MPs condemn the heavy handed approach of the police. My press briefing in Parliament today on the anti GST protest has been covered here.

Government Pushes Courier Fees Up Despite Fall in Petrol Prices

On 16 January 2015, I held a press conference at PKR HQ on the concern of the rising cost of living despite the fall in petrol prices. Instead of bringing prices down, we expose how a government agency has helped to increase profits for a company, Pos Malaysia which is controlled by Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar since 2011. Read the full press statement here. Read the Malaysian Insider’s coverage of it here.

1MDB: Another Failure

I wrote a short statement on 1MDB’s failure to repay RM2 billion loans owing to RHB and Maybank on time. Read the brief press statement here.

Bring back Cayman Money as Promised to Parliament

On 23rd December 2014, I issued a press statement in response to 1MDB’s refusal repatriate all the Cayman Islands money by year end, as promised by Ahmad Maslan in Parliament. You can read the full press statement here. You can also read the media’s coverage on the issue here (the Malaysian Insider), here (Malaysia Kini) and here (Malay Mail).

I did a press conference on 27 November 2014 exposing the Government’s attempt to tidy up their loan exposure. When a loan that is repayable is converted into shares, how will the Govt ever recover the RM875 million in loans since MDV and PMB are non-for-profit and will never pay any dividends back to the Ministry of Finance? See the full press statement here. Read the media’s coverage on this issue here.

BN Cut Sabah Sarawak Basic Food Subsidies by 60%

On 20 November 2014, my good friend YB Darell Leiking, MP Penampang PKR and I conducted a press conference on the matter regarding 1Malaysia, 1Harga price subsidy cuts of up to 60%. Read the official Press Statement here.

Budget for Defending and Promoting Palm Oil Slashed, a mere 0.03% of Total Exports

The issue appears to be less controversial but is in fact an economic scandal of grave mis-allocation of public funds. It is a failure of the govt to realise just how important palm oil is. It is a story of cakap tapi tak bikin. The govt says it is important but allocates almost nothing to promote and defend the industry. I gave a press conference in Parliament on 18 November 2014 on the matter. You can read the official press statement here. And you can watch a video of the PC here.

Government Not Transparent and Not Serious about TPPA

I debated on the TPPA during the Budget Committee Session debates in Parliament on 17 November 2014. Immediately after that, I gave a press conference on the response I received from the Minister of International Trade and Industry. In the statement, I urged the Minister to release the interim cost benefit reports to the public. Read the official press statement here.

On PM’s Allegations about CGT

4 days after Pakatan Rakyat released our Alternative Budget and 3 days after the PM tabled the 2015 Federal Budget, the PM made allegations that PR’s proposal to implement CGT as an alternative to GST will cause capital flight and crash the stock market. YB Rafizi Ramli and I gave a press conference in Parliament on 13 October 2014 in direct response to his allegations. Read the official press statement here.

On the Release of the IRB Bill

On the 3rd of October 2014, the IRB bill was posted up in the Parlimen Malaysia website and here is the big surprise, line by line, it is exactly the same as the draft presented in June. Read the official press statement here in English.

(On the first day of Parliament, 7 October 2014, a fresh IRB Bill was tabled sans Investment Panel! We won! Read my writeup here and the media’s here)

On the Re-tabling of the IRB Bill

On the 2nd of October 2014, I gave another press conference on the issue of the Inland Revenue Board Investment Panel proposed in a Bill in Parliament earlier in June this year. As you may recall, the government retracted this Bill after the issue gained national and international attention. About 4 weeks ago, I issued a letter to the Minister of Finance asking for an advanced copy of the newly drafted Bill. Until today, we have not seen a copy of the new Bill and it is due to be debated in Parliament on the 7th of October. Read the official press statement here in English and BM.

Joint Press Release Regarding The Appointment of New Selangor MB

On the Investment Panel of the IRB

On the 12th of June 2014, I gave a press briefing on the attempt by Najib to divert tax payers money via the creation of an IRB investment panel. This press briefing attracted international attention, forcing the Finance Minister to temporarily withdraw the Bill. Read the official press statement here in English and BM.

On the Government Use of Consultants

During the November 2013 Parliamentary session I received a shocking answer to my question regarding the amount spent on private consulting firms. Read the full statement here in English and BM.